The
new DGA provides an easy-to-follow message to consumers, recommending three actions areas with six points to remember:

Balancing
Calories

Enjoy
your food, but eat less.

Avoid
oversized portions.

Foods
to Increase

Make
half your plate fruits and vegetables.

Switch
to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods
to Reduce

Compare
sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals-and choose the
foods with lower numbers.

Drink
water instead of sugary drinks.

“The
2010 Dietary Guidelines are being released at a time when the
majority of adults and one in three children is overweight or obese
and this is a crisis that we can no longer ignore,” Secretary
Vilsack said. “These new and improved dietary recommendations give
individuals the information to make thoughtful choices of healthier
foods in the right portions and to complement those choices with
physical activity. The bottom line is that most Americans need to
trim our waistlines to reduce the risk of developing diet-related
chronic disease. Improving our eating habits is not only good for
every individual and family, but also for our country.”

The
basic DGA prescription is to consume more healthful foods like
vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy
products, and seafood, and to consume less sodium, saturated and
trans fats, added sugars, and refined grains.

“Helping
Americans incorporate these guidelines into their everyday lives is
important to improving the overall health of the American people,”
HHS Secretary Sebelius said. “The new Dietary Guidelines provide
concrete action steps to help people live healthier, more physically
active and longer lives.”

The
2010 Dietary Guidelines include 23 Key Recommendations for the
general population and six additional Key Recommendations for
specific population groups, such as women who are pregnant. The
recommendations are intended as an integrated set of advice to
achieve an overall healthy eating pattern. To get the full benefit,
the Guidelines urge all Americans to follow the recommendations “in
their entirety.” To support the effort, USDA and HHS will release
their next generation Food Pyramid in the coming months.

USDA
and HHS say that by following the Guidelines, “Americans can live
healthier lives and contribute to a lowering of health-care costs,
helping to strengthen America's long-term economic competitiveness
and overall productivity.”As mandated by Congress, the Guidelines
form the basis of nutrition education programs, federal nutrition
assistance programs such as school meals programs and Meals on Wheels
programs for seniors, and dietary advice provided by health
professionals.

The
Dietary Guidelines aid policymakers in designing and implementing
nutrition-related programs. They also provide education and health
professionals, such as nutritionists, dietitians, and health
educators with a compilation of the latest science-based
recommendations.

In this week’s Open Mic, Ambassador Darci Vetter, Chief Agriculture Negotiator with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, provides an update on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPA) negotiations, as well as the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks. Vetter says the nation’s agriculture industry cannot afford to be isolated from the other ninety-five percent of the globe’s population or growth in its middle class. Support from farmers and ranchers will be crucial in advancing an ambitious trade agenda, she adds.